Though, imo the Hobbit hate DOES include MORE reasons to hate, for a lover of the Tolkien universe that is, like: "poor interpretation of the book, poor use of LotR appendix story, changing appendix scenes(for god knows why), creating a long/boring set of movies (here's to "no hope for the 3rd movie"), changing wonderfully written plots/scenes just to add bad character development, including Legolas and the girl Elf...the list goes on and on.

While I did enjoy LotR overall, many of what you said about The Hobbit applies to LotR. Many changs were made to the books that never sat well with me.

I watched the first two movies, but I didn't have any luck getting the third so far. The version of ATOC i found had the change notes at the bottom of the screen, so I don't know if that was the final version of the edit or not. I really liked the changes, Jar Jar is far less annoying, Anakin & Padme's romance is more gradual and believable, all of the goofy slapstick is gone (it could've used a bit more humor though). There were a few bits removed that I missed, like the death sticks scene, and the asteroid battle between Obi-Wan and Jango. It can feel a bit rushed at times, but the official version tends to drag often, so I don't mind it much.

btw, I don't think age and generation has as much to do with how people reacted to the prequels as some are suggesting. The OT had fans of all ages in the 80's and 90's because it had elements that appealed to the young and the old, that was one of the most common comments people made about it back then. I don't know if Lucas intended that to happen, but it did, and he didn't or couldn't pull that off in the prequels. Even my father likes the first two, and he's older than Lucas (he also thinks the prequels are terrible and an insult to the fan base).

Cheers for this info. The prequels were such a massive disappointment to me, so these fan edits are very appealing. FotJ sounds like its definitely worth checking out.

I watched the first two movies, but I didn't have any luck getting the third so far. The version of ATOC i found had the change notes at the bottom of the screen, so I don't know if that was the final version of the edit or not. I really liked the changes, Jar Jar is far less annoying, Anakin & Padme's romance is more gradual and believable, all of the goofy slapstick is gone (it could've used a bit more humor though). There were a few bits removed that I missed, like the death sticks scene, and the asteroid battle between Obi-Wan and Jango. It can feel a bit rushed at times, but the official version tends to drag often, so I don't mind it much.

btw, I don't think age and generation has as much to do with how people reacted to the prequels as some are suggesting. The OT had fans of all ages in the 80's and 90's because it had elements that appealed to the young and the old, that was one of the most common comments people made about it back then. I don't know if Lucas intended that to happen, but it did, and he didn't or couldn't pull that off in the prequels. Even my father likes the first two, and he's older than Lucas (he also thinks the prequels are terrible and an insult to the fan base).

Yeah for some reason part 3 just got really hard to find, not sure why. I agree about the deathsticks scene, 50-50 on the Jango scene.

I think the age issue is more that kids are not as discerning when it comes to movie flaws, and enjoy silliness more. A great film will appeal to all ages, and as you get older you appreciate it more and more. The PT is the opposite, they get harder to enjoy.

I watched the first two movies, but I didn't have any luck getting the third so far. The version of ATOC i found had the change notes at the bottom of the screen, so I don't know if that was the final version of the edit or not. I really liked the changes, Jar Jar is far less annoying, Anakin & Padme's romance is more gradual and believable, all of the goofy slapstick is gone (it could've used a bit more humor though). There were a few bits removed that I missed, like the death sticks scene, and the asteroid battle between Obi-Wan and Jango. It can feel a bit rushed at times, but the official version tends to drag often, so I don't mind it much.

btw, I don't think age and generation has as much to do with how people reacted to the prequels as some are suggesting. The OT had fans of all ages in the 80's and 90's because it had elements that appealed to the young and the old, that was one of the most common comments people made about it back then. I don't know if Lucas intended that to happen, but it did, and he didn't or couldn't pull that off in the prequels. Even my father likes the first two, and he's older than Lucas (he also thinks the prequels are terrible and an insult to the fan base).

Yeah for some reason part 3 just got really hard to find, not sure why. I agree about the deathsticks scene, 50-50 on the Jango scene.

I think the age issue is more that kids are not as discerning when it comes to movie flaws, and enjoy silliness more. A great film will appeal to all ages, and as you get older you appreciate it more and more. The PT is the opposite, they get harder to enjoy.

I think the PT is even more geared for little kids. I was 13 when TPM came out. I saw it twice in theatres. The first time I was telling myself that it was pretty good, but after the second time I was pretty disappointed. I thought it was just too silly. It felt more like a kids movie then I was prepared for and I was still a kid!

My younger cousins, ages 5-9, loved it! To them it was their Star Wars, the old ones were just some old movies. I guess I had just missed the age range. When I was 5-6 years old I watched the OT on VHS, I started there. The PT did get better in my opinion and I actually like ROTS.

Still haven't gotten a chance to download the edits..

Going to give these a watch.

The age thing is a bit weird between Padme and Anakin. At the very least she's a good 8-10 years older than him. She's at least in her late 20s by AoTC, why would she be interested in a douchey 18-19 year old boy? Not a huge thing, but its odd.

I am glad he edited out the stupid Anakin piloting the Starfighter scene. It made no sense for someone who's never sat in a starfighter to be somewhat competent at piloting one. I know he raced podracers, but that would be like an F1 race car driver hoping into an F-22 and being able to fly it around like he's done it before.

Jar Jar... less of him is more than welcomed.

But the worst thing Lucas did with the PT is kill off Darth Maul in Phantom. He made the movies a disconnected mess. Honestly, there is no reason to even watch Phantom. It really doesn't give you any background story that's actually useful. Do you care where Anakin came from? He's such a different character by AotC that it doesn't matter. You don't really care about Naboo either, as its not a focal point anymore. You miss out on the worst of Jar Jar. With no villain to carry over into the 2nd one, it makes the 1st movie a pointless setup story.

Darth Maul was badass. Yeah you had the Sidious character, but you don't really see him as an evil villain yet. He is just some dude in the background. The Separtists were silly Asian aliens. That weren't necessarily evil. They just wanted money. But Maul was a Sith and an awesome one. Killing him off was a huge mistake. Now in AotC you have some old dude who isn't scary or intimidating in Dooku. Even his name, Count Dooku, sounds like a stupid vampire in a 50s "B" movie. So dumb.

I doubt they will ever remake the PT, but if they do, Darth Maul needs to live and eventually be killed by Anakin.

Well The Clone Wars series does a lot with Darth Maul in seasons 4 and 5. If you want more Maul check that out. Also Dark Horse just did a 4 issue comic book series called Son of Dathomir that connects to those events from the show.

Going to give these a watch.

The age thing is a bit weird between Padme and Anakin. At the very least she's a good 8-10 years older than him. She's at least in her late 20s by AoTC, why would she be interested in a douchey 18-19 year old boy? Not a huge thing, but its odd.

I am glad he edited out the stupid Anakin piloting the Starfighter scene. It made no sense for someone who's never sat in a starfighter to be somewhat competent at piloting one. I know he raced podracers, but that would be like an F1 race car driver hoping into an F-22 and being able to fly it around like he's done it before.

Jar Jar... less of him is more than welcomed.

But the worst thing Lucas did with the PT is kill off Darth Maul in Phantom. He made the movies a disconnected mess. Honestly, there is no reason to even watch Phantom. It really doesn't give you any background story that's actually useful. Do you care where Anakin came from? He's such a different character by AotC that it doesn't matter. You don't really care about Naboo either, as its not a focal point anymore. You miss out on the worst of Jar Jar. With no villain to carry over into the 2nd one, it makes the 1st movie a pointless setup story.

Darth Maul was badass. Yeah you had the Sidious character, but you don't really see him as an evil villain yet. He is just some dude in the background. The Separtists were silly Asian aliens. That weren't necessarily evil. They just wanted money. But Maul was a Sith and an awesome one. Killing him off was a huge mistake. Now in AotC you have some old dude who isn't scary or intimidating in Dooku. Even his name, Count Dooku, sounds like a stupid vampire in a 50s "B" movie. So dumb.

I doubt they will ever remake the PT, but if they do, Darth Maul needs to live and eventually be killed by Anakin.

Well The Clone Wars series does a lot with Darth Maul in seasons 4 and 5. If you want more Maul check that out. Also Dark Horse just did a 4 issue comic book series called Son of Dathomir that connects to those events from the show.

I find clone wars to be pretty much unwatchable, I'm hoping Rebels will be better.

@phild0:

...the bigger fish line is a good joke, but it was probably left out because Jar Jar screams through the whole sequence like Chris Tucker in 5th Element.

I have to admit that this made me laugh a deep laugh that came from the bowels of my belly.

As for the humor, I will admit that I missed the "Roger-roger" from the droids. That and the bit in the hanger when he says, "errr....No!". It was a little too serious with absolutely no humor in it.

Well please do share your impressions. Since last week for the first time in my life I can't discuss a Star Wars movie because no one I know has seen it!

So, my son and I started it last night. He doesn't quite remember the first one, but remembers enjoying it. He's 9 now, but it's been a few years.

The original was 2 hours and 15 min long. This one is 1.5 hours. I have to admit that it moves a lot quicker. I can remember getting past the Ben Hur remake (pod racing) and it seemed to take forever, but this movie moves faster. I'm about an hour into it. We just saw the Chancellor replaced. I had forgotten that Palpatine was from Naboo, but it makes me wonder how he can be Chancellor and there still be a Senator from Naboo? I guess if you are Chancellor you don't get to vote? Or have someone replace you as Senator? Seemed odd to me.

The whole underwater city scene seemed very fast. Maybe a little rushed, but if you are cutting out Jar Jar scenes, it might have to feel that way. I didn't hate Jar Jar, either. The pod races didn't take forever. I still found myself missing looking at the different aliens a bit, though. I know there were more scenes with at least a few seconds of their faces before they blew up or crashed. Also, with taking out how Sebulba cheated it tends to create a feeling of Anakin being a kid who just made a bunch of stuff that doesn't work right. It becomes more of a crazy chance that the Jedi take to have this near toddler build something and win. I liked it.

I did miss at least some humor, though.

(incoming rambling)

To further iterate this point, I HATE the Hobbit movies, for many reasons similar to why people hate the PT (Unnecessary love story, unnecessary action scenes, unnecessary comedic scenes, bad acting/directing, too much CGI, etc.)...

On a risk of going off tangent, I will say that my neighbor didn't like the "things they added in out of the blue". I did tell him that the whole love story and Gandalf checking out the forest for evil are actual stories that Tolkien wrote, but put them in the back of the Similarian. So, they really are Tolkien stories, but just bundled into this movie. This mollified him as he felt they were just made up by Hollywood. Also, he didn't remember the bit about the giants fighting in the mountain pass. I reminded him that it actually was in the books, but just more a reference.

On that end, I think adding in the bit about Gandalf looking into things fits well into the overall plot, as it's all related and ties the Hobbit in with the LotR. I don't mind the love story or comedy, really, as it is just more screen time for the movie. The comedy isn't as far fetched as the movie really is about an average guy going on these crazy adventures. The humor tends to make it more of a humanizing factor to the whole grand thing. It doesn't feel as tacked on as it does in Phantom Menance.

========

Back to the Star Wars movies, though, I think Lucas really messed things up when he started to gear things for kids. It happened before Ep 1, though. Just look at the ewoks and you see the start of it. He then made Willow, which was way too sugary sweet for my tastes. He just went deeper down that rabbit hole with Ep 1-3.

I had forgotten that Palpatine was from Naboo, but it makes me wonder how he can be Chancellor and there still be a Senator from Naboo? I guess if you are Chancellor you don't get to vote? Or have someone replace you as Senator? Seemed odd to me.

I did miss at least some humor, though.

Same as in the US - if a senator becomes president they have to elect a new senator. Whoever replaced Palpatine is probably who Padme in turn replaced. Also, I assumed there is a replacement senator in the wings in case of a crisis, and I assumed Padme's was Jar Jar, hence his ability to propose a motion.

They did leave some humor - you have slapstick Jar Jar in Wato's shop, and Padme's "well I don't approve" line. You've also got the "send a droid" line.

Is the Chancellorship like a President? I thought it was more Speaker of the House. So, you were in charge of the leadership party, but you were still a representative. Hmm....I should rethink it more as British politics. Chancellor is Prime Ministor. I think that makes more sense, right?

Yeah I didn't even think of a speaker of the house scenario, tbh.

Any one who I linked seen all three yet?

I have watched PT and AOTC so far. Will watch RotS this weekend.

PT is much better with all the slapstick removed. As fella mentioned above, it moves much faster. The whole underwater scene just come and goes.

The podracer scene was very disjointed though. One second Anakin is hopelessly behind the pack, the next scene he is weaving through racers, all of a sudden he is hopelessly behind again.

AotC was also an improvement on the original although I will admit I fell asleep towards the end.

My biggest gripe is that whilst the fan edits are wonderful improvements of the originals (subjective of course), the editor is still working with total rubbish. Wooden acting, CGI overkill, etc. I can't help but feel he/she has turned a turd into a better looking turd.

Having said this, I will give RotS a shot this weekend.

Darth Maul was badass. Yeah you had the Sidious character, but you don't really see him as an evil villain yet. He is just some dude in the background. The Separtists were silly Asian aliens. That weren't necessarily evil. They just wanted money. But Maul was a Sith and an awesome one. Killing him off was a huge mistake. Now in AotC you have some old dude who isn't scary or intimidating in Dooku. Even his name, Count Dooku, sounds like a stupid vampire in a 50s "B" movie. So dumb.

This also annoyed me. Ep1: Maul, Ep2: All of a sudden there is this Dooku dude, Ep3: Out of nowhere comes this Grevious chap.

I believe they did the right thing by killing Maul (and refuse to admit that he comes back with robot legs in Clone Wars). He had to be killed to make way for Anakin to be come the Sith apprentice yeah? What I'm challenged by is why kill off Maul, just to replace him with another villain .. especially after the "always 2 there are, a master and his apprentice" line. clearly, there was more than one student.

It would have made much more sense to keep Maul alive after QuiGon and Kenobi's battle on Naboo and have him play the Dooku role. Vader remains the villain for 3 movies straight.